A chamber of “sober second thought” filled with highly qualified, committed, engaged people representing all regions of Canada, unfettered by politics and partisanship – we all know the Senate isn’t what it’s supposed to be. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has proposed reform, but it doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. And it would only raise more problematic questions.

There are 105 senators. They’re appointed by the prime minister – usually party people like former politicians, defeated candidates, party workers, fundraisers or donors. They represent regions. I hadn’t a clue who represents us. I looked it up. I don’t think there is anyone. Twenty-four senators represent Ontario. The closest one, as far as I can tell, lives in Simcoe. The last time we had a senator here was 1996 through 1999, when former prime minister Jean Chretien appointed former Essex MP Eugene Whelan.

They make $132,000 a year. They can be appointed at age 30 and don’t have to retire until age 75, 45 years of job security. Six-figure salary, job for life – that’s like winning the lottery. And they virtually can’t be fired. More than one senator has tested this: poor attendance, bad behaviour. But nobody has been kicked out.

There were plenty of questions about Patrick Brazeau, the Conservative senator charged with assault and sexual assault last week, when he was appointed in 2008. The government knew there were questions about the organization he headed, the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples. It knew he faced a charge of sexual harassment. Yet he was appointed, at age 34, making him the youngest senator ever and leaving us stuck with him for 41 years.

Not surprisingly, it has been more of the same since he was appointed – allegations of falsifying information to get a tax exemption and a Senate housing allowance, a report he’s behind on child support payments. And he called a female reporter a bitch on Twitter.

He was finally forced to take a leave of absence last week – with pay.

Mike Duffy, one of four senators whose expenses are being audited, has become the kind of person he used to out. He was a journalist. Now he tells journalists to get lost when they question him about allegedly living in Ottawa but claiming more than $40,000 in housing allowances for supposedly living in Prince Edward Island, the province he’s supposed to represent.

Attendance has been scrutinized since last summer when it was revealed it can be pretty half-hearted.

And then there was Joyce Fairbairn, the senator who finally resigned last month after it was revealed she had Alzheimer’s and had continued to vote.

There are highly qualified and committed senators, of course, and there is work that contributes to debate on public policy (though not the impassioned bid to replace the beaver with the polar bear as Canada’s national animal, pushed by Senator Nicole Eaton in 2011).

But even if they’re the creme de la creme, who are they to question bills approved by Parliament? They’re not elected.

Harper has long flogged reform; but he has appointed dozens of senators, more retired politicians from the party, organizers, fundraisers etc. He appointed Brazeau and Duffy. He has asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on proposals for provinces and territories to elect senators that the prime minister can then appoint and to limit terms to nine years. (He has also asked the court to rule on whether the government can abolish the Senate.)

But what’s the point of making the Senate an elected body? We already have one. Would the Senate compete with the House of Commons? What happens if the two bodies disagree? Which one would have precedence?

And how many senators would each province get? Because New Brunswick has a population of less than 756,000 and a whopping 10 senators. Alberta, which is booming, has 3.9 million people and only six senators.That’s not fair.

And if senators are elected, who speaks for provinces and territories, the provincial and territorial governments, also elected, or the senators?

We’d need more reforms to deal with the reforms. It would be like a domino effect. We’ll be subjected to debate about this for decades.

Some say we just need clearer rules, and we need to enforce them, beginning with requiring a receipt for every expense claimed. Good God! We don’t do that now?

What’s the big deal about a bicameral legislature? None of the provinces have one. (Seven provinces used to have upper chambers; they were abolished.)

Need to cut the deficit? One hundred five senators multiplied by $132,000 a year is almost $14 million a year. Plus, staff, offices, expenses, perks…

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